


I remembered you.

by nadagio



Series: Memory Of You [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Eavesdropping, Enemies to Friends, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 04:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10654998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadagio/pseuds/nadagio
Summary: Keith overhears something he shouldn't and resolves to settle this whole "rivalry" thing.





	I remembered you.

Being around Lance was a constant, low level ache.

Rejection was one thing, but the continuous reminder that the boy Keith liked not only did _not_ like him in return, but seemed to actively loathe him was like a punch in the face. Again and again and again. Apparently, Keith was not even likable enough to be tolerated, much less appreciated. Lance couldn’t be near him without pick- pick- picking away at his words, his looks, or his character like an ugly scab.

Keith shut down. He tried not to react, tried not to encourage the idiot. But it was like trying not to flinch when someone salted an open wound. Keith got angry, he got defensive... he reacted. Their bickering and fighting continued.

If only Keith could hate Lance, things would be easier. If Lance were a truly horrible person, Keith wouldn’t have liked him or cared about his opinion. But seeing him around everyone else – laughing and smiling, joking and flirting – was a reminder of everything that Keith found attractive about the other boy. His exuberant energy, his expressive face, his wide smile, and his sparkling eyes. When Keith saw Lance throw an arm around his friends, he was reminded: Lance only found _Keith_ intolerable. There was something unique to _Keith_ that turned a happy and friendly boy into an asshole.

Oh but there were _moments (_ just a few) where Keith could pretend that things weren’t completely hopeless, that maybe Lance could at least someday consider him a friend. Lance said “I don’t hate you.” Lance passed up an opportunity to make fun of him. Lance looked into his eyes and said “we do make a good team”. Except then -

Well. The moments were few enough that they stood out clearly in Keith’s mind. Nothing changed. Even if they could work together long enough to complete life-threatening missions, things went back to normal the moment any threat was gone.

But it was fine. It was. Keith had so many more important things to worry about. Bonding with Red, training to be stronger so he wouldn’t die on one of their missions, discovering that (oh by the way) he was actually part alien, searching for Shiro when he disappeared _again_ \- !

So yes. On a scale from stubbed toe to mortal wound... Keith’s not getting along with his crush was something like a bum ankle that twinged when he took a bad step.

It was still awkward when they had to interact.

“Oh, sorry,” Keith mumbled, having just collided with the object of his tormented affections while leaving the kitchen.

“It’s fine,” Lance said, but his frown was unforgiving. Standing just behind him, Hunk smiled at Keith.

“Hey, man. Did you just have a snack?” the yellow paladin asked. Keith edged around the pair of them.

“No, I was grabbing something to drink.” Keith raised his pouch of space-Gatorade as evidence.

Lance entered the kitchen without another word, but Hunk stuck around to ask, “You wanna eat with us? I was thinking of experimenting with those alien squash we just got.”

“No thanks,” Keith said. “I wanted to spend some time with Pidge, heard she was working on something.”

“Oh yeah! The long-range communicator. I hope she can get it working, that would be useful if we’re ever stranded without our lions.”

“Right, that. See you, Hunk.”

“Have fun!”

Hunk entered the kitchen, but Keith lingered. He hadn’t actually been planning to hang out with Pidge, but would he really be welcome with Hunk and Lance? Hunk wouldn’t mind, but Lance definitely would.

Because he was standing just outside the door, Keith was able to hear when Lance said, “Of course the Mullet wouldn’t want to hang out, buddy, he’s too _cool_ for the rest of us.”

There was a sharp twist in the vicinity of Keith’s stomach. His jaw clenched. He didn’t move.

“You know that’s not true, man.” Hunk sighed. “And if you’d let him be for even a minute maybe he wouldn’t run off all the time.”

“You’re saying it’s _my_ fault that he - !”

“ _Lance._ Come on.”

There were moments where only the clattering of various bowls and utensils rang out. Keith should have left. Eavesdroppers never heard well of themselves. But he still didn’t move.

“It’s just… hard,” Lance said, unusually solemn.

“I know. But it won’t get easier until you talk to him.”

“I can’t do that! I already know what he’d say, anyway.” Lance’s tone was petulant.

“You can’t know that.”

“I can! I do! And I don’t want him to _pity_ me!” His voice grew louder and angrier. “I’m not pathetic. I don’t need him to- to swoop in and _help me out_ because I can’t even- can’t deal with some _stupid_ , _ridiculous…_ Argh! Shit. _S_ _tupid. I’m so stupid._ ”

“Hey, _sh_ _h_. Come here, Lance. Breathe.”

Keith needed to leave. He shouldn’t have been listening. Throat tight with sympathetic pain, Keith walked away as he should have at the start. He didn’t go and visit Pidge, he went to his room to be alone for a while. He needed to think.

* * *

Much, much later, Keith found Lance in the control room. He was sitting on the floor and looking at the projected universe of star systems. Keith almost didn’t want to disturb him, but the memory of the other boy sounding near tears and calling himself stupid was motivation enough to say,

“Hey.”

Lance twisted to look at him and then frowned, quickly turning back.

“Hey.”

Keith approached slowly, sitting down a fair distance away from the blue paladin. He wasn’t sure how to start the conversation. How does a person mend bridges when he wasn’t even sure why they had burned in the first place?

“What do you want, Keith?” Lance asked, and it was a reminder that Keith didn’t usually seek him out. He wasn’t usually alone with him.

“I want… to talk.”

“Not really in the mood, Mullet. Try again later.”

Keith took a deep breath. He couldn’t just ask Lance what was wrong, he couldn’t expect him to open up without opening up first.

“It… bothers me, that we don’t get along,” Keith said eventually. “I’ve never understood the rivalry. Not because I don’t think you can keep up with me, but because I’d rather work with you than against you.”

Lance said nothing.

“Can you explain… why? Please?” Keith asked.

He waited.

“You were the best in the class,” Lance said eventually, looking at the stars rather than Keith. “You’re still the best pilot, our strongest fighter next to Shiro. But you never look around, you don’t see all the people below you. I want you to see me, and to know that I’m a challenge worth beating.”

“I _do_ see you. Beside me, not below me. You’re my teammate, Lance.”

“You didn’t see me then. You didn’t even _remember_ me.” Lance gestured with his arms. “We had nearly every class together for two years!”

Keith cringed.

“That was… Look... I lied,” he admitted. “I’m sorry, it was stupid. Of course I remembered you. But I was holding a grudge because of the rivalry thing and I didn’t want you to think that it _mattered_ to me, but it did because it… hurt.”

“Why would it hurt?” Lance asked, looking confused.

“Because I never wanted to be your _rival_! An enemy! I wanted to be-” Keith cut off. He wouldn’t go down that road again. “At the very least, I want to be your _friend_.”

“But do you really?” Lance’s expression was twisted. “Or do you want to because you think that’s what _I_ want?”

“If I wanted to do what I think _you_ want, I’d have thrown myself into a black hole ages ago,” Keith retorted.

Seemingly against his will, Lance’s mouth stretched into a smirk. “Is that plan completely off the table?”

Usually such a remark would bother Keith, but that time it was spoken softly, teasing rather than grumbling. Keith smiled.

“Depends on if it seems like a good idea in the moment,” he said. “I’ve had worse plans.”

Lance actually giggled, and a soft, warm feeling grew in Keith’s chest.

“Do you think...” he began. “Maybe we can actually get along? All the time instead of only occasionally or during a mission?”

“Hmm, depends,” Lance said, stroking his chin. “How dedicated are you to the cause?”

“The cause?” Keith frowned.

“Yup. The cause of being friends with me.” Lance leaned in close with a wide grin. “Dedicated enough to, say, do my laundry?”

Keith laughed and shoved his face away gently.

“I don’t think any cause is worth that level of dedication,” he said. Lance continued to smile, but it seemed a little tighter so Keith continued. “But I am. Dedicated. I can’t promise I won’t get… grumpy? And you might need to let me know if I mess up. But I want to be your friend.”

“Well, then, _friend_.” Lance stood and pulled Keith to his feet. “To celebrate our newfound _friendliness_ , let’s have a _friendly_ race to the lounge. Last one to the couch is a -”

Before even finishing his sentence, Lance took off running.

“Hey!” Keith shouted, racing after him. “Cheater!”

An old ache healed, Keith didn’t realize how much it had hurt until it was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently it's that easy. But obviously not everything is resolved just yet because Keith is still pining. And oh, gee, what is this thing that Lance is struggling to deal with?
> 
> I figure they needed to deal with their hurt feelings before anything else. (But yay, happier.) Hope you enjoyed. :)


End file.
